The 14 perverts are from throughout the state and were shifted to a psychiatric hospital under the governor’s controversial program to keep such predators off the streets, even after they’ve finished doing their time.

Pataki yesterday asserted that “13 of them were convicted of molesting children under the age of 10,” and that all were examined by doctors who concluded they were mentally ill and “pose a threat to do this again” if released.

“I’m not going to let them out on the street,” he said.

News that the number of those confined has climbed to 26 came yesterday as Pataki vowed to appeal “within days” a Manhattan judge’s ruling Tuesday. The judge said Pataki illegally detained the dirty dozen by failing to follow established procedures when seeking to keep them under wraps.

The governor’s vow comforted Darlene Allen, whose 62-year-old brother-in-law Arnold Allen was convicted in upstate Steuben County of subjecting an 8-year-old boy to sexual contact and of abusing a 13-year-old boy.

“I don’t think he should be free,” said Allen. “He needs help. And I truly don’t believe he can stop from doing that to another child.”

She said her brother-in-law also sexually abused a young family member many years ago but was never charged, and that he fell into a psychiatric “gray area.”

“We were told he was not mentally ill,” she said. “We were told he had the mentality of a 13-year-old.”

“My husband and I, we’ve been trying for years to get him placed where he can be taken care of and not hurt anyone else, but we can’t get anyone to help us,” she said from her upstate home.

The emotional battle began when Pataki, upset at the lack of legislation that would allow civil confinement of sex offenders when their sentences end, took another tack. He used the state’s involuntary commitment law, which usually deals with the non-criminal mentally ill, to win their extended confinement.

In her decision, state Supreme Court Justice Jacqueline Silbermann said the 12 would have to be released within five days. They would be let go after being examined by court-appointed psychiatrists, if the doctors don’t agree they should remain in custody.

The judge said she didn’t argue with the state’s belief that “each of these men poses a danger to society.”

“However, even persons acquitted of violent crimes by reason of insanity may not be civilly committed to a mental hospital solely because they pose a danger to society,” she said.

“A showing of mental illness and a need for inpatient care and treatment is also required.”

In her decision, the judge noted that two men – referred to as John Does because the court papers contained confidential medical records – “were diagnosed only with antisocial personality disorder, but according to the American Psychiatric Association, 75 percent of the prison population meets the criteria for this disorder.”

The judge also said that John Doe No. 11 alleges that after a brief interview, “one of the examining physicians thereafter admitted that she did not want to send him to a psychiatric hospital, but that a directive had ‘come down from Albany.'”

If the state appeals, the appellate court could keep the men in the psychiatric hospital on Wards Island pending a full hearing.

The issue is being waged on an emotional battleground with both sides trying to balance individual rights and those of the community.

Jessica Lugo believes her former boyfriend, Johnny Torres, 21, of Brooklyn, who pleaded guilty to the attempted sexual abuse of another former girlfriend, should not have been sent to a psychiatric hospital after completing his sentence.

“It’s a crime not to let him go,” said Lugo, 22, who also knew Torres’ 20-year-old unidentified victim. “They’re giving them hope, but they’re taking away their hope.”

Authorities said that during the 2004 incident, Torres threatened to kill his victim if she didn’t have sex with him. But Lugo says Torres was innocent, and that he pleaded guilty out of frustration while awaiting trial. At the time of the crime he suffered from depression, and was in a mental health program that found housing for him, Lugo said. His victim lived in the same building.

But Michele, a tenant in the building on Eastern Parkway, said she lives there alone with a young son and didn’t want Torres returning.

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday weighed in on the controversial issue, urging the Legislature to take action.

“What I would like to have is the state Legislature increase the mandatory sentencing for sexual predators, all the way up to life if that’s what it takes,” he said.

“I don’t know whether the courts will find prior restraint legal or not,” the mayor said. “What we know we can do legally is take these predators off the streets so they don’t threaten anybody.”

Stephen Harkavy, of the state Mental Hygiene Legal Services, which was representing the 12 men, said the state had not yet turned over any information about who examined them.

“They clearly didn’t follow the procedures,” he said, noting that the judge had not yet appointed the psychiatrists who would examine them.

In Bushwick, where convict Michael Bleiwas once lived, some tenants were nervous that the 51-year-old man might move back.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” said Jeffrey Darling, 42. “If he comes back, a lot of eyes will be watching him.”

Additional reporting by Perry Chiaramonte and Patrick Gallahue

fredric.dicker@nypost.com

THE ORIGINAL DIRTY DOZEN

* Arnold Allen, 62. Convicted in Steuben County in 2002 of fondling an 8-year-old’s boy’s genitals and performing oral sex on him. Also abused a 13-year-old boy. Sentence: 3 years

* Michael Bleiwas, 51, of Brooklyn. Pleaded guilty in Queens to sexually assaulting his victim at gunpoint. Sentence: up to 7 years

* Charles Brooks, 34, of Mount Vernon. Pleaded guilty in The Bronx to entering two apartments on different occasions in 1997, holding a knife to two girls -a 5-year-old and a 13-year-old – and engaging in sexual relations with them. Pleaded guilty in 2000. Sentence: 5 years

* William Clark, 37, of Elmira. Has a history of pedophilia, and was convicted in Elmira of sexually abusing his 7-year-old female relative in 1997. Sentence: 5 years

* Joseph Hoppe, 53. Convicted in 1995 in Broome County of attempting to rape a woman at knifepoint, sexually abusing her and endangering her welfare. He did prior stints in prison for arson and burglary. Sentence: up to 12 years

* Louis Massei, 45. Convicted in Queens in 1981 of attempted murder, rape, sodomy of unlawful imprisonment. Sentence: up to 25 years

* Mark McCray, 37, of Roosevelt, Essex County. Convicted in Clinton County of repeatedly sodomizing a boy who was less than 10 years old and engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with another boy less than 10 years old. Sentence: 2 years

* Christopher Rivera, 22, of Brooklyn. Pleaded guilty in 2000 in Brooklyn to first-degree sexual abuse for sodomizing and sexually abusing a minor on various dates the year before.

* Johnny Torres, 21, of Brooklyn. Pleaded guilty to the June 17, 2004 sexual assault in Brooklyn of his 20-year-old ex-girlfriend, whom he attacked after entering her apartment and grabbing her after she got out of the shower. Choked and threatened to kill her. Sentence: 1.5 to 3 years

* Robert Trocchio, 42. Convicted in 1982 in Suffolk County of sodomizing a young woman. Sentence: 25 years

* Robert Warren, 42, of Morristown. Convicted in St. Lawrence County of forcing a young girl, over a period of time, to fondle his genitals and perform oral sex on him. Sentence: 9 years

* Kenneth Bailey, 47. Convicted in Chemung County of having sodomized a minor.